“The Government And The Mayor Now Expect Boroughs, Developers And Delivery Partners To Make Full Use Of These Measures To Approve And Build The Homes That Londoners Urgently Need”

The government’s and Mayor of London’s final package of support for housebuilding in the capital  (25 March 2026) (published alongside the London Mayor’s Support for Housebuilding London Plan Guidance and the government’s consultation outcome document) has been substantially enhanced since my 13 December 2025 blog post on the initial draft and my earlier 1 November 2025 blog post where I set out certain key asks.

The final package goes some way to addressing my three main asks:

The requirement for a late stage (as opposed to an early stage review mechanism) has been removed from the time-limited planning route – and the qualifying timescale has been extended:

“Certain elements of the proposed planning route have been adjusted. The route will now be open to applications submitted and validated by 31 March 2028 [the draft package proposed that schemes had to be consented by that date], by which time the new London Plan is expected to have been adopted. The Late Stage gain-share mechanism has also been replaced by an Early Stage Review – aligning directly with the GLA’s current Fast Track Route – with no further reviews required beyond this. The Early Stage Review will be triggered where an agreed build out milestone is not met within a stipulated time period – with a default position comprising of a build out milestone of a first-floor slab to be achieved within 30 months starting from the grant of planning permission. Flexibility will also be allowed for boroughs and housebuilders to agree differently defined build out milestones and time periods for achieving this milestone – appropriate to the circumstances of the site and reflecting the imperative to incentivise starting construction and housing delivery.”

“Any Early Stage Review should be carried out in accordance with Mayoral Guidance and where a surplus is identified, 100 per cent of this should be provided to the LPA. Where this surplus is sufficient to support on site social and affordable housing provision, the additional social and affordable homes should be provided within the development prior to the occupation of a specified proportion of market units. Where the surplus identified is insufficient to support on site provision, the surplus should be paid to the LPA as a financial contribution prior to the occupation of a specified proportion of the market units”.

The viability test within the CIL relief that is available has been simplified and the qualifying timescale has been extended:

“This emergency relief will now apply to eligible schemes commencing before 31 March 2030,  with further simplified requirements and processes to access the relief and get schemes moving.” (The previously proposed deadline was 31 December 2028).

“We now propose to:

1. require viability evidence, but: (i) it will be sufficient for developments to demonstrate through a residual appraisal that they are unviable currently – rather than evidence that the CIL relief is demonstrably necessary to make the development viable; and (ii) clarify that the statutory declarations which must accompany viability evidence should confirm that any inputs and assumptions are fair and reasonable at the point of the application (recognising that these can change over time)
2. amend the commencement deadline to 31 March 2030 (reflecting the changes made to the time limited planning route timescales) and set a default expectation of 5 years from commencement to completion (with the ability to deviate from this on a case-by-case basis through agreement between boroughs and developers), with relief being clawed back where this is not met.
3. to restrict access to CIL relief to residential floorspace, but clarify that relief will not be limited to entirely residential developments (i.e. residential units within mixed use developments will be able to qualify, provided they also meet all other relevant criteria).
4. focus relief on developments which do not predominantly take place on “excluded land”, but clarify that, where developments straddle multiple types of land with a limited portion on “excluded land”, these will be in scope of relief.
5. limit relief to developments delivering a minimum of 20 per cent social and affordable housing (the first 10 per cent nil grant), with a higher level of relief available for schemes delivering up to 35 per cent social and affordable housing, but: (i) require a higher minimum of 35 per cent social and affordable housing on public sector and industrial land (where industrial floorspace capacity has not been re-provided) to align with the time limited route; (ii) clarify that at least 60 per cent social rent must be provided, but where social and affordable homes are provided above 35 per cent, their tenure is flexible (noting CIL relief is only available up to 35 per cent); and (iii) allow Build-to-Rent developments to meet a different test to the social rent requirement, aligning with the requirements of the time limited route to better reflect the nature of their delivery model.
6. limit relief to developments attracting a whole-scheme borough-level CIL liability of over £500,000 on eligible residential floorspace, and clarify that, for multi-phased developments where the CIL on later phases is not yet certain, an estimate of overall liability may be provided.” [my emboldening]

“We intend to liaise with London boroughs, developers and other stakeholders on the implementation of the emergency relief from CIL and we intend to consult on the draft CIL amending regulations as soon as possible in the spring.”

There is now more focus on stalled sites that already have planning permission:

“In some cases, there will be existing consents at higher levels of social and affordable housing than the 20 per cent minimum proposed via the Time Limited Route. Where such schemes are unviable and therefore stalled – in keeping with the stated objectives – immediate steps should be taken to get these schemes moving and accelerate the delivery of homes for Londoners.”

The first step should be to be to seek grant to maximise the level of social and affordable housing. Applicants should also factor in the availability of the time-limited emergency CIL relief. Importantly:

“Having explored the availability of grant and factored in the available CIL relief, it may remain necessary to amend the scheme due to remaining viability challenges. As the Mayor of London Support for Housebuilding LPG makes clear, applicants who seek to amend their schemes in line with the terms of the new time limited route are not required to submit a full viability assessment. In such instances, applicants would need to seek a deed of variation to the Section 106 agreement and submit a Section 73 application where amendments to conditions are required. Again, the Government and Mayor are clear that ensuring schemes progress and housebuilding is accelerated is the priority, and local planning authorities are strongly encouraged to support applications that meet these minimum levels and conform to the eligibility criteria under the time limited route.” (my emboldening).

It’s time to get to work. The final sentence could indeed be read in part as a veiled threat to those who don’t play ball – whether from the private or public sector:

“The Government and the Mayor now expect boroughs, developers and delivery partners to make full use of these measures to approve and build the homes that Londoners urgently need.”

Simon Ricketts, 25 March 2026

Personal views, et cetera